Shipping crate



y 3 J. J. O'CONNELL ET AL 2,160,461

SHIPPING CRATE Filed Marph 5, 1936 s Sheets-Sheet 2 (10M J.O'COIMELLdAmzY SflALONE y 1939- J. J. OCONNELL ET AL 2,160,461

SHIPPING CRATE Filed March 5; 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet a 3mm JoJrJJ.O'CONI\|ELL HARDY smwfls lay) my Patented May 30, 1939 SHIPPING GRATEJohn J. OOonnell and Harry S. Malone, Day ton, Ohio, assignors toGeneral Motors corpora: tion, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of DelawareApplication March 5, 1936, Serial No. 67,264

3 Claims.

This invention relates to shipping crates and more particularly tocrates for shipping articles, such as dynamo-electric machines.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a crate ofminimum weight and di mensions;

Another object of the'p'resent invention is to provide an economical wayof packing a maximum number of articles, such as dynamo-electricmachines having irregular outlines, so that the high finish of thearticles will not be marred nor damaged in transportation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a crate which maybe easily loaded,

handled and placed in secure position in a transporting vehicle andwhich, after unloading may be easily assembled in compact form forreturn shipment to the original shipper.

The objects mentioned above are accomplished by providing a crate,including a skid or base upon which a plurality of separators or traysare adapted to be positioned in stacked relation. These separatorsinclude a flat member having longitudinal and cross members secured atthe periphery thereof to provide a peripheral ledge thereon. Within thearea confined by the peripheral-edge a plurality. of articles ofmanufacture having irregular outlines are positioned, for example,dynamo-electric machines having numer- O ous projections, such as,condensers, .oilers, bases and the like. Tubular sleeves of suitablefibrous material are placed about the articles and these sleeves arekept from sliding off the separators by the peripheral ledge. After acertain number of separators are placedon the base in stacked relationsuitable securing means, such as metal bands are used to hold theseparators in a grippingrelation against both edges of the sleeves tomaintain the sleeves with the articles of manufacture enclosed in afixed'position on the separators, V Y Further objects and advantages ofthe present jjinvention will beapparent from the following description,reference being had to the accompanyingdrawingswherein a preferredembodiment of In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is aside elevation of a crate, on a reduced scale, fully loadedand resting on a lifting truck shown in dotted lines.

the present invention clearly shown.

Fig. 2'is'. an end'view' of a loaded crate looking in theflirectionoft-arrow 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing one method of as sembling the sleeves upona separator.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view to scale showing a fragment of one of theseparators.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a sleeve used in present invention.

Fig. 6 is a part longitudinal sectional view of a freight car showingthe lengthwise'relative positions of a plurality of the shipping cratesin the car.

Fig. '7 is a part sectional end view of a freight car showing endwiserelative positions of the shipping crates in the car.

Referring to the drawings, 20 designates a shipping crate comprising abase portion 2| having feet 22. The feet may be secured to the base bybolts, not shown, or in any other suitable manner. The upper side of thebase 2| is adapted to support a tray or separator 32. Each separator 32is preferably made of wood. and comprises a flat member 23, which may beof five ply wood, longitudinal strips 24 and cross strips 25-. The

strips 24 and 25 are also preferably made of wood. It is to beunderstood that other materials may-be used. The strips 24 and- 25 areattached to the flat surfaces of the member 23 by nails or screws. Thestrips 24 and 25 are attached on both sides of the flat member and formperipheral ledges or projections for each side of the flat member 23. Itis tobe understood that the strips 24 and 25 may be attached to the'member 23 in any other suitable manner so long as they provide aperipheral ledge for the member 23 For example, the strips 24 and'25 mayhave grooves intermediate the ends thereof into which the edges of theflat member 23, may extend and be secured. v

When one of the separators is placed. upon the base portion 2| the upperarea 26 of. oneof the separators is adapted to receive a plurality ofdynamo-electric machines 21. A strip of suitable I V fibrous material,such as double faced corrugated paper is provided with spaced detents orscores so that the strip can be easily formed into a collapsible tubularsleeve 28. One of the sleeves is clearly shown in Fig. 5. After thesleeves are formed they are placed about the dynamo-elem 4 tric machines21 having numerous projections 3|,

such ascondensers, oiler and bases.

.By referring to Figs. 1 and 2, it-may be seen for sake of illustration,the crate 20 is shown loaded with dynamo-electric machine ready 7 to be,a

shipped. V I When loading the cra-tefor'shipment, thepacker: firstplaces one of the separators 32' on. the

base 2|. He then places a plurality of articles 21 in position on thearea 26 confined within the upper peripheral ledges and then places asleeve 28 about each article. It will be noted that when the sleeves areplaced about the articles each article or dynamo-electric machine isprotected from each other by a partition and that one or more of theexternal surfaces of the outer row of sleeves 28 will be near oradjacent the peripheral ledges. The ledges 24 and 25 prevent the sleevesfrom falling off the separator. A guard 29 of corrugated paper is placedabout each projection 3| of the motor 21, see Fig. 2. He then places asecond separator over the sleeves so that the bottom peripheral ledgesof the second separator will telescopically engage the upper portion ofthe outer walls of severalsleeves positioned on the first mentionedseparator: The lower surface of the separator will rest on the sleevesand. bear against the guards29. The guards prevent the dynamo-electricmachines from moving upwardly during transportation, due to jolts andthe like. Further separators, articles and sleeves are then placed intoposition and similarly loaded until the required number of articles arepacked to form the crate 29. In stacking the separators the articles arearranged on the separators so that the end receiving the greatest numberof articles be placed above that end of the preceding separatorsupporting the least number of articles thereon. This'arrangement ispreferable as the weight of the crate will be distributed more equally.The last separator placed forms the top of the crate.

metal ribbons or bands 33 are wrapped around 'forha'ndlingfrom theproduction lines to stock and then" packed for shipping. I-Iowever thisthe base and the separators and drawn until all of the separators aredrawn tightly together. The band ends are then tied together causing thesleeves to be rigidly and securely held in position.

The feet 22 are provided on the base 2| so as to permit a dolly orlifting truck to be placed beneath the crate in order that the crate beeasily handled when moving the crate from the loading room to atransportation vehicle.

These crates may be so proportioned in size that a certain number ofcrates will fit into a freight car and to permit several of the cratesto be tied together as a unit, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. By tyingseveral of the crates together undue shifting of the crates in thefreight car during transportation is eliminated.

One advantage of the present invention resides in thes'aving'in cost ofmaking special boxes for each dynamo-electric machine having an irregu-"lar outlines 1 Another advantage resides in theme of strong lightmaterials that are cheap, thus the cost of packing material in formingthe crateis reduced to a minimum. Further the cost is reduced for thereason'that this type of shipping cratewhen unloaded from the freightcar and emptied can be packed in a compact form, loaded into the freightcar and returned to the point of shipping thereby permitting repeateduseof these crates.

- Another advantage resides in the saving in the cost of handling forthese dynamo-electric machines in-th'atthe machines can be packed ontoextra handling, if undue care wasn't used, caused some of the cartons,with the articles therein, to fall from the skid. In many instances thecartons and the articles were damaged as there was no sure means ofsecuring them on the skid. Further, by using this type of crate, thecost of handling by the customer is also reduced to a minimum.

Another advantage of the type of crate resides in the fact that iteliminates errors in count, both in production and shipping as eachcrate may be made up to contain a definite number of articles.

A still further advantage resides in the fact that it substantiallyeliminates loss and damage claims.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed,constitutes a preferred form. it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

' What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a shipping crate, the combination with a plurality of separatorseach having a flat sheet of rigid material bounded on its edges withraised portions on opposite sides thereof; a plurality of individualtubular members formed from sheet stiff paper for enclosing articles ofmanufacture, said tubular members being assembled with an open endresting on a separator within the raised portions and the opposite openend of each tubular member supporting another separator by engaging theunder surface of a separator within the respective raised portions; andmeans for clamping the separators and the tubular members in a rigidrelation for shipment.

2. In a shipping crate, the combination with a plurality of separatorseach having a flat member made of multiply sheets of strong material andbounded on its edges with projecting elements on opposite sides thereof;a plurality of individual tubular members of corrugated paper forenclosing an article of manufacture, said tubular members beingassembled with an open end resting on the upper side of a separatorwithin the projecting elements and the opposite open end of each tubularmember supporting another separator by engaging the under surface of aseparator within the respective'projectingelements, a support adapted tohave the separators placed thereon in stacked relation; and means forclamping the separators against the tubular members and for rigidlyholding the separators on the support whereby the tubular members areprevented from moving axially and/or endwise with respect to theseparators.

3. In a shipping crate, the combination with a plurality of separatorseach having a flat sheet of rigid material bounded on its edges withraised portions on opposite sides thereof; a plurality of individualtubular members formed from normally flat sheets of strong fibrousmaterial having flexible qualities for enclosing articles ofmanufacture, said tubular members being assembled with an open endresting on a separator within the raised portions and the opposite endof each,

' tubular member supporting another separator by engaging the undersurface of a separator within the respective raised portions; and meansfor clamping the separators and the tubular members in a rigid relationfor shipment.

' JOHN J. OCONNELL.

1% Y S. MALO NE.

